That sucks for the innocent. And not to be heartless, but ...
At least 364 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Saturday; the United Nations says 62 of them were noncombatant women and children. By contrast, four Israeli civilians have been killed by attacks from Gaza, bringing the total to 11 this year.
Israel is far better equipped than Gaza to absorb the conflict. Israelis within a 20-mile radius of Gaza have been instructed by the authorities to stay close to protected spaces. Hanukkah school vacations in the area, due to end Monday, were extended indefinitely.
When rockets fall on Ashkelon, a team of civil servants maps them on a giant computer screen in an underground "war room," quickly calculates the number of people likely to be affected and dispatches emergency crews to the scene.
Gaza's emergency services are crippled by the airstrikes and power outages caused in part by an Israeli blockade. The coastal enclave's police force isn't much help; run by Hamas, its officers are Israeli targets, killed or driven into hiding.
While Gaza's beleaguered hospitals stack dead bodies on the floor and turn away wounded Palestinians for lack of beds, Israel moves efficiently to care for its wounded.
If you're going to mobilize hundreds of rocket-armed "combatants" into the Gaza as well as civilians alongside them, you damn well better mobilize some triage-ability in there, too.
